Obama

Starting October 18, as part of a new tracking system, the Department of Homeland Security will collect social media and internet data on U.S. immigrants, including lawful permanent residents, and naturalized citizens. This new plan will coincide with the start of the White House’s new travel restrictions on citizens from Chad, Iran, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Somalia, North Korea, and Venezuela.

The data collection plan covers things like Facebook and Twitter, and potentially even Google search results. » Read More

The White House plans to formally announce that it will cap the number of refugees who will be able to resettle in the United States to 45,000, according to numerous news outlets. This is the lowest annual level set since the passage of federal legislation in 1980 that gave this power to the president. Last year, President Obama set the annual cap at 110,000, although far fewer refugees actually arrived in the United States.» Read More

Following a Wednesday night meeting with President Trump, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Chuck Schumer now say they have reached a deal with the White House to quickly pass legislation protecting DACA recipients, also known as “Dreamers,” from deportation, alongside a budget package for border security measures. This announcement comes only eight days after Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the DACA program, instituted by Obama to halt deportations of people who came to the United States as children, would be coming to an end.» Read More

As expected, the Department of Justice just announced that the 2012 Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals—known as DACA—has been rescinded. Attorney General Jeff Sessions delivered the news in a morning press conference at the Department of Justice.

The Attorney General noted that the Department of Homeland Security has developed a plan to begin the “immediate wind-down” of the DACA program.» Read More

As previously detailed on this blog, President Obama has endorsed proposed federal legislation that would mandate paid sick leave for employees. He has also called on states and municipalities to pass similar bills that would impact businesses both large and small. While Governor Wolf has followed suit by proposing paid sick leave for those who work for Pennsylvania businesses with fifty (50) or more employees, Philadelphia has gone a step further.» Read More

During this week’s State of the Union address, President Obama announced a multi-pronged initiative aimed at giving paid sick leave to employees who currently do not receive it. Most notably, the president called on Congress to pass the Healthy Families Act (“HFA”), which was first introduced in 2009. The HFA would require all businesses with fifteen (15) or more employees to provide up to fifty-six (56) hours of paid sick leave per year — to be accrued at a rate of one (1) hour for every thirty (30) hours worked — to obtain preventative care, care for themselves, or care for a sick family member.» Read More

President Obama recently signed an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from retaliating against their employees who discuss their compensation with one another. Although the order is limited in scope, it still has a sizable impact, as nearly one quarter of American workers are employed by federal contractors. In addition, many companies have written policies that specifically tell employees not to discuss their compensation with their fellow employees, which would now be deemed improper.» Read More